Holiday Traditions Too Good to Sleep Through

by Megan - Monday, December 23, 2013

Every year, UK department store chain John Lewis collaborates with adam&eveDDB, a communications company, for a holiday commercial. This year they really went the extra mile with their ad “The Bear & the Hare” by producing an incredible, hand-drawn stop motion animation. It went viral almost immediately.

The commercial is centered on best friends Bear and Hare in the midst of a Christmas-decorating extravaganza in the forest. Bear watches sadly, knowing he will soon have to hibernate and miss the holiday with his friends. However, this year Hare has an idea that will change everything.

“The Bear & the Hare” took a long time to create – just the animating portion took over six weeks to accomplish – but it was well worth it! Most of the figures that appear in the ad are traditional 2D hand-drawn animations, but all of the sets were created in 3D. And rather than doing standard 2D animation, the team decided to go the full mile and film it all in stop motion. What resulted is an absolutely fascinating scene that truly captures the holiday spirit in a unique way.

Are you planning on creating something for your own holiday celebrations, but in need of a “jolt” like Bear? Have no fear … we’ve got some ideas to get awaken your creative mind!

• Try your own holiday iStopMotion animation. You could use the stop motion feature to make some of your favorite holiday food come to life (like candy canes, holiday cookies, eggnog … anything can work!), to animate Claymation reindeer on a makeshift roof or to create a snowy wonderland animation on a chalkboard.• How about time-lapse movies? Use iStopMotion to create a time-lapse video of a snowstorm, opening presents, decorating a Christmas tree, lighting a Menorah, or baking holiday cookies! iStopMotion’s time-lapse feature is great when it comes to documenting a process that changes from start to finish.• Use FotoMagico to create a picture slideshow of your family around the holidays. Mix it up and throw some pictures of a family dinner (as you can see, we’re big holiday food fans here), present opening, playing in the snow, or playing board games and drinking hot chocolate by the fire. You’ll be able to look back on it for years to come.